DEITY, HALI LOVEL

HERMAPHRODITUS "HALI" LOVEL

deity of bisexuality, effeminacy, etc.

RANK. rank E
AGE. born over 8,000 years ago; 17 in this life
DOB. can't remember; feb. 04 in this life
ETHNICITY. mixed, though he does know his mother was mostly italian
OCCUPATION. homeless-ish artist
RESIDENCE. underground manhattan west side

Hali is old -- older than most of the Greco-Roman deities whom she tends to be associated with. He was first born sometime in the neolithic age and, although he wasn't worshiped, he was revered and respected in his community.

Fast forward to Greece, and later Rome. He was reborn as the child of Aphrodite and Hermes, who were both accepted deities in their pantheon. Hermaphroditus or Aphroditus, as she was then called, became one of their deities by default. With the exception of a few events (such as being raped by a nymph), these were some of the best lifetimes she ever had; he had a family, followers, satyr friends, artists who wanted her to model for them, and cults where they had cross-dressing parties.

However, she did leave eventually. Before the fall of Rome, he traveled east and made the "third sex" a legitimate and accepted idea. In many places, he was called Ardhanarishvara. He wasn't in the western world when Christian emperors, and later the governments of countries, began outlawing homosexual intercourse, and didn't even realize they had done so until he returned about a thousand years later and got publicly burned alive. Yeah, he was a deity so he was reborn just fine, but being hated and executed over something that used to be accepted and even worshiped by some just hurt. Since when was loving man different than loving woman? And it didn't stop there. Life after life she was hated, executed, or even gang raped and murdered. She went to America to see if it would be any better, but it wasn't; she began to wonder if there was a place for her in the world anymore. Wherever he went he was condemned.

It began to get better eventually. Slowly, yes. But it did get better. As more people begin to accept her again, she began getting her powers back, and she wasn't quite as afraid to express his true emotions. His last life was the first life in a long time that she died from old age rather than hate. In his present life he has still been attacked, even resulting in the loss of his right eye, but remains optimistic for the future of the human race. In this life, his mother was a prostitute. She grudgingly raised him for a time, but when puberty hit and what she thought was just her feminine son started developing breasts, she left. That was fine with Hali; trying to be masculine and ignorant all the time was a pain.

She acts childishly, even innocently, most of the time, despite being older than just about everyone he knows. She's much more intelligent and informed than she lets on, though every once in a while he'll let something slip that doesn't seem quite right to those who buy into his guise just to see how they react. That said, he is generally a good person. Despite living thousands of years and witnessing (and even experiencing) more deaths than she would ever dare to try to count, he does try to care about human life and emotion. He will empathize with you when you're depressed, laugh with you when your spirits are high, and bluntly shove reality in your face when you're being an idiot. Most of the time he wants everyone to be truly happy with themselves, despite socially-constructed roles and constricting taboos. She herself will do what she loves and act as she pleases, despite the danger and hatred this could pose from others.

played by iceguin